With Kaelo Iyizoba and Muhannad Lamin’s inclusion, Africa once again secures vital representation at TIFF’s premier talent incubator, affirming the growing global recognition of the continent’s next generation of storytellers.
By Joseph Jonathan
Nigerian-American filmmaker, Kaelo Iyizoba, and Libyan filmmaker, Muhannad Lamin, have been announced among the 16 participants of the TIFF Directors’ Lab 2025, a five-day competitive talent development programme that runs during the Toronto International Film Festival this September.
Formerly known as the TIFF Filmmaker Lab, the Directors’ Lab spotlights international directorial debuts and pairs emerging voices with world-renowned directors, producers, agents, and distributors. Participants also become eligible for prestigious fellowships, including the Micki Moore Fellowship, the Share Her Journey Giving Circle Fellowship, and the Jennifer A. Tory Legacy Fellowship.
Kaelo Iyizoba, who is based in New York, will develop A Nollywood Story, in which a grieving young woman is pulled into the world of an old Nollywood movie and must become its hero in order to save her mother and return to reality. A 2023 Durban FilmMart alum, Iyizoba is also a 2025 Sundance Cultural Impact Residency Fellow and was named a top-ten winner of the 2025 Tyler Perry Studios Dream Collective Program. His previous works include Mr. Bold, a BAFTA student award-shortlisted film.
Muhannad Lamin, a director, editor, and producer, will present The Guardian, set in the Libyan desert where an elderly Bedouin herdsman confronts two hunters in search of the sacred Waddan, unaware of the dangers one of them carries.
Lamin’s debut feature documentary, Donga, premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2023, earning a Special Mention at the Social Impact Media Awards and nominations at both IDFA and DOK.fest München. His earlier short films have screened at Clermont-Ferrand, Locarno, and Carthage (JCC) Film Festivals.
The other selected participants in this year’s Lab are:
- Chasing Losses (Canada) | dir. Alexandre Lefebvre
- Camp Oshun (Canada) | dir. Alicia K. Harris
- Worldbuilding (Sweden) | dir. Balder Ljunggren
- Love-Letter-For-You.txt.vbs (Philippines) | dir. Che Tagyamon
- The Professor (Canada) | dir. Evangeline Kabuya
- The Last Lightbulb in Texas (Canada/UK) | dir. India Opzoomer
- We Are Our Mountains (Canada/Armenia) | dir. Kamee Abrahamian
- The Last of Them Plagues (India) | dir. Kunjila Mascillamani
- Making a Sea (Myanmar) | dir. Lin Htet Aung
- Child, Uninvited (Japan) | dir. Mai Nakanishi
- The Devil’s Tears (Canada) | dir. Maya Bastian
- Underground Woman (Canada) | dir. Nick Thorburn
- Blue Sky Yellow Sunflower (Canada/Italy/Argentina) | dir. Rita Ferrando
- Halfway Saints (Canada) | dir. Salvador Miranda
- The Void Is Immense in Idle Hours (Philippines) | dir. Sam Manacsa
- Night’s Mouth (Brazil/Italy) | dir. Stephanie Ricci
- The Chameleon Woman (Thailand) | dir. Tanaseth Tulyathan
- To Be Reborn from Blood and Ashes (Canada) | dir. Xu-Ming Lor
With Iyizoba and Lamin’s inclusion, Africa once again secures vital representation at TIFF’s premier talent incubator, affirming the growing global recognition of the continent’s next generation of storytellers.